Tempest: A High School Bully Romance (Bad Boy Royals of Kingsbury Prep Book 1) Read online

  His silvery blue eyes were on me, sizing me up, analyzing me. Devouring me. I felt the presence of that heat as we locked eyes. His pale ones against my violet brown ones. His unwavering gaze heated me as he took in my large breasts, my small waist, my full rear, and my long shapely legs. I heard him softly whispered, “Wow.”

  My lips had parted slightly, and I licked it. Not deliberately, but out of habit when I was engrossed in watching or reading something interesting. I was definitely watching White Night’s reaction to me with interest.

  His silvery blue eyes darted to my tongue and stared at it with desire.

  My thoughts were headed towards the naughty when a loud horn sounded. And White Night was suddenly on me, pinning me to the ground.

  The moment we touched, it was electric.

  His eyes widen as it affected him equally as much as it did me. A slight panic filled his eyes as he stared at my lips, his own so close to mine.

  He looked like he wanted to kiss me.

  The tension between us was hot and thick.

  “Tap out now,” he whispered. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  With that, I took my advantage, grabbed his shoulders, twisted and landed on top of him, my legs straddling him.

  I knocked the breath out of him, but he managed to say, “Oh God,” as he glanced down to see my core was right on top of his hardening length. One move from me…one swing of my hips, I would be rubbing against him, stroking him.

  “Let’s see who will be hurting?” I said. “Tap out.”

  He grinned. A devastatingly megawatt movie star grin. “I like this kind of ‘hurt’.”

  Frustrated, I bounced up on him, hitting him against his now rock hard length. “Tap out.”

  His eyes closed briefly as in ecstasy. “No. Make me.”

  I was about to put my elbow to his throat, but he grabbed me and rolled me over so he was on top.

  I knee’d him and rolled him over so I was once again on top, taking the advantage.

  I was about to grab his mask, when he pushed me off of him and jumped up.

  I jumped up at the same time.

  “Let’s see what you’re made of,” I said, running at him with my fists. I swung one arm and then another, as he block each swing in sync. I tried to trip him with a side swipe kick, but he jumped up, avoiding my kick.

  We kept at it, equally matched so far. At the rate we were going, we would be fighting for hours. But there was a time limit. Or no prize money would be given.

  I threw a punch, which he caught, and leaned in. “Dammit, fight. Someone’s got to win!”

  He threw a punch then and hit me in the stomach. I doubled over, almost falling. His fist was like a brick. He walked over to me, a cruel grin on his face and a look of triumph. “Guess it would be me.”

  I punched him hard in his stomach and knee’d him in his balls. He fell to the ground. I followed him down to finish him for the win by using my elbow to choke him out. He held on for as long as he could, his face turning slightly blue before he tapped out.

  I got up off him and stood up. The horn sounded, and a man came into the roped off area and held my hand up. “The winner is Ms. Storm!” he announced.

  I nudged him and said, “It’s Tempest the Storm.”

  The crowd was cheering and applauding. Some were already getting up and out of their seats walking out before the masses. I turned to go but felt a hand on my elbow.

  It was the White Night. “Nice win,” he said, congratulating me.

  “Thanks,” I said, wanting to leave.

  “Wait,” he said. “Why didn’t you do it?”

  I turned to him and asked. “Do what?”

  “Take off my mask. You could’ve. You were going to earlier. But then you didn’t.”

  I brushed it off. “I forgot. I just wanted to choke you out. I didn’t even think about taking off your mask later on.”

  He looked quizzically at me for a while and then said, “Do you know who I am?”

  I shrugged. “No. And I don’t want to know. Everything I did tonight will be a distant memory for me tomorrow.”

  “Why did you fight?” he asked.

  “Why should I tell you?” I said. “Everyone has their reasons. Excuse me, I have to go.” I walked away before he could ask me more questions or that we could become friends. From the look on his face, he was going to ask for my number. As much as I was lusting after him before the fight, heck…during the fight, I couldn’t afford to get into any relationships at the moment. I didn’t have the time to with all the jobs I had, taking care of my sister, taking care of our place, and school.

  I met Ned at the entrance where he was waiting.

  He handed me a towel and a cold bottled water. “How do you feel?”

  “Fine,” I said. “A little tired, but I should be fine.”

  “The nurse is in the green room to check you out, just in case.”

  “Okay,” I said walking into the green room.

  A woman dressed in spectator clothes was already opening her medical box, which looked like a fishing box, except it was pink. “Hi,” she said, “Nice fight.”

  “Thanks,” I said, taking a seat next to her.

  “I had my bet on you,” she said proudly.

  “Thanks for the confidence,” I smiled genuinely. I’ve faced so many doubts and pre-judgements all my life because of how I look and because I was female, I told myself to be grateful to those who believed in me.

  I stood up and zipped down the top of my jumpsuit. It looked and was constructed like a scuba suit, which I had tailored. Watching enough superhero films’ behind the scenes videos, I picked up a few things about costumes, especially how they made batman’s and even superman’s costumes out of scuba suits. Thank God my little sister Lily was a YouTube fan and watched them enough to find me the best DIY videos to watch. I learned how to sew from one of them, and how to make my own costumes.

  “Nice costume,” the Nurse said.

  “I figured I needed a disguise so I made a costume,” I told her.

  “Smart,” she said, putting a cold pack on my stomach. It had turned bluish purple from that punch the White Night had given me. “That’s a nasty bruise,” she said. “A punch from White Night is something to take. You did well. The other challengers were not so lucky. Broken ribs, ruptured organs…”

  “I guess I was lucky,” I said. Lucky that White Night seemed to like me enough to pull his punch?

  “You sure are,” Nurse said. “No injuries anywhere else.”

  I stood up and zipped up as Ned came back into the room. “You can collect your prize at the office you interviewed in,” he said. He shook my hands, “Great fight. It was an honor serving you tonight.”

  “Thank you, Ned,” I shook his hands. “You helped me win, you know. When you sent me off to the arena with that reminder to win for my sister. I needed that. Thanks,” I smiled at him, and removed my mask, tucking it into my belt.

  I walked down the dark and dingy hallway to the makeshift office and found Scarred-face sitting behind the old rusted desk. He stood up when I approached the desk and actually smiled. “I knew you had something special.”

  He handed me an envelope. “Keep that safe. It’s a lot of money to be carrying at night.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I now have enough so I can call Uber for the ride home.”

  He laughed. “I like you, Kid. The sponsors and the organizers of this fight loved you. There’s more than just cash in that envelope. There’s a contract. Now you’ll have more time to read through it before you sign.”

  As tired as I was, I was ecstatic. I reached out and hugged the old man, and said, “Thank you so much for choosing me to fight tonight. I don’t even know you name! But if you haven’t, I wouldn’t have won. Thank you!”

  “Tommy,” Scarred-face said. “Name’s Tommy. And you remind me of my little girl…tough like you, so…you already had an advantage.”

  I smiled and said, “Thank you
again, Tommy. Hopefully, I’ll see you again.”

  I walked out, and as if my life has suddenly changed by the stroke of a wand, an Uber was waiting for me, as I had wanted.

  I turned to Tommy and he said, “I have it on speed dial. Everyone seemed to need one after the fight.”

  I gave him a thumbs up and entered the car.

  Chapter 1

  “You killed it last night!” Lily exclaimed, sitting in front of my laptop at our trailer’s breakfast table/desk as she ate a bowl of cereal.

  Groggy with sleep, I sat up from bed. While the ice pack helped numb my bruised stomach last night, it hurt like a bitch so I took a dose of painkillers that knocked me out for the night. Thank God it was not a school day, but Saturday when I got to sleep in before a full day of work.

  Wiping my eyes, I yawned. “What are you talking about?”

  “This!” Lily said, turning the laptop around so I could see the screen.

  I squinted, trying to see the blurry images, but I could see the video’s headline clearly:

  Mysterious Beauty wins coveted Prize in Underground Fight Tournament

  I thought my fight would be a secret. It was ‘underground’ wasn’t it? Why was it splashed all over the internet?

  “Give me the computer,” I said, sticking my hand out.

  Lily stood up and handed me my laptop. I had customized it with one of my tattoo art so it had purple and teal roses on a glittery silver vine with sharp dagger thorns.

  I tried to enlarge the screen, but the video was intentionally blurry so you could only see the outline of the two fighters with just enough details so you could see one was a guy with white spiky hair with broad shoulders. The girl had purple long hair that fanned out like a scarf behind her. She had shiny red lips, a body like a sexy comic book heroine clad in black patent leather, and a purple mask over half her face. You couldn’t see what color her eyes were or what her expression was, but you could see they were large.

  The way the computer pixelated the screen, their fight seemed almost like a video game fight. It was the scene where I knocked the White Night to the ground and choked him out. The video jumped to my hands raised and the announcement that I was the winner. As the crowd cheered for the new champion, the number $250,000 flashed on the screen. Then like a Las Vegas casino slot machine, the numbers began rolling to the next number $350,000. $375,000. $395,000.

  Another graphics popped up with a rundown of scores.

  Style 8

  Fight Technique 8

  Showmanship 8

  Easy on the Eyes 10

  Likeability 9

  Another $10,000 was added to the Prize Money.

  For a total of $400,000

  Lily’s eyes ballooned. “You won all that? Just from one fight?”

  “Not just one fight,” I said, lifting my t-shirt so she can see the big bruise on my stomach. “A seriously dangerous one where people can die.”

  Lily’s cute baby face grew sad. “Temp, don’t die. The money’s not worth losing you.”

  She got up and came over to the bed we shared together, sat down, and put her tiny arms around me. “It’s okay, Lil,” I hugged her back. “I survived. I won, didn’t I?”

  She began crying, “But you could have been killed.”

  “I won’t die,” I said. “I’m Tempest, remember? Tempest Storm!” I took out my sketchbook from behind my pillow, where I kept it in case I had an inspiration for artwork. There was my alter ego. My fight club persona.

  It was the image I created last night for the arena. Only in brighter colors and a better, more high-tech suit. At the top right hand corner was the name: Tempest Storm.

  At the bottom centered was the text: Defender of the Weak, Champion of the Oppressed, Bullybuster of Bullies

  Lily perked up. “Isn’t that a mouthful?” She pointed to the bottom caption.

  “Yeah, you’re right, Munchkins,” I said, squeezing her. “Glad you’re my smart sidekick.” I crossed out the text: Champion of the Oppressed so it was reading: Defender of the Weak, Bullybuster of Bullies.

  “That’s it!” Lily exclaimed. Bet if you put that up for your profile, you’ll get more points for your next fight. She pointed to the board on the video. “Those scores…Likability and Showmanship will go up if you have a likable persona, which you do.”

  I took a snapshot of my sketch and texted it to Tommy (aka Scarred-face).

  TEMPTEST TEXT: Would this help my scores?

  TOMMY TEXT: Couldn’t hurt it. I’ll send this to my boss.

  “There,” I said brightly to Lily. “We’ll see how everyone takes to Tempest Storm.”

  Lily got up and said, “Bet they’ll love her! Everyone loves my sister.”

  I got up, but winced when the pain in my stomach hit me. If the White Night wanted me to remember him, this was one way I would.

  But not in a good way.

  I hunched over a bit trying not to stretch my stomach, but not too much so as not to worry Lily. Nurse examined me on the surface yesterday. She didn’t take an X-ray though, which meant I could have broken a rib or something. I sighed. If I did, I didn’t have insurance to cover medical expenses. I’ll have to pay cash upfront then. I wondered if I had enough for a visit to a clinic.

  I walked over to the small kitchen cupboard, pulled out a tin box, and looked inside. I was old-fashioned that way, but fortunately in our neighborhood, it was safe enough where I didn’t need iron bars on my windows and doors. I reached in, and found the envelope Tommy had given me.

  “Is that the Prize?” Lily asked pointing at it.

  “Yes,” I said, taking the envelope and sitting down next to Lily at the breakfast table. “Can you help me clear the table, Munchkins?”

  “Sure,” Lily said, taking her breakfast plate to the sink and her glass of milk. I opened the envelope and looked inside. “Wow!” Lily cried out happily. “I’ve never seen so much cash before in an envelope.”

  I began counting. It was all in $500s. “There.” I said. “$300,000.” And a note.

  This is the Prize Money and a Bonus for riling up the crowd. You will receive more from the online reception of the fight at the end of the month.

  I also pulled out a folded document. Tommy had said there would be a contract.

  I read the contract.

  It was a whopper of an offer. One I had to think through because it would be life-changing.

  I called Mr. Nichols and asked if he could meet me at the trailer.

  Straight to business without much preamble and talk about the weather, Mr. Nichols was as steady and even keel as they come. Good for delivering bad news, but not so good if you wanted someone to cheer and do the rah rah for you when delivering good news. “I’ll be right over,” he said. He was having a meeting nearby anyways so he would be here in soon.

  “Did you brush your teeth, comb your hair…” I asked Lily. “Mr. Nichols is coming over so we need to look presentable. After all, he convinced the courts we can live on our own without a technical adult.”

  “Already done,” Lily said. “Don’t worry about me. I made my own breakfast while you slept in this morning. I picked up my clothes from the floor, and I even watered the plants.”

  “I know I can count on you!” I said.

  “Did Mom and Dad work all the time, like you, when you were my age?” Lily asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “They had started their company from the ground up so they did everything in their company to build it. They had to work all the time because it was their dream. They worked night and day almost getting no sleep when they first started. Mom was the scientist, and Dad was the business genius. Together, they were the Dream Team. But Mom and Dad were always there for me. They took me to school. We ate dinner together every night. I went everywhere with them, even to their company. I would spend afterschool at the company while they worked. Dad even had me sit in meetings with him and people, teaching me how to work with people, how to negotiate, how to read graphs, do res
earch, and lots of stuff grown-ups need to know to do business. When I grew older, I would accompany them to other countries where I would do reports for them to make a decision.”

  “When Mom and Dad were too busy, what did you do so you’re not bored?” Lily asked.

  “Well, I had all my hobbies and interests to keep me happy. Like I drew art, especially patterns that look good as tattoos. I played the piano. I even took up martial arts when we spent a month in Asia during a long business trip. I continued training in it when we came back to the US, and I’m still training because…”

  “Practice makes perfect!” Lily said.

  “True,” I said, changing out of my pjs and into my street clothes. I went to the sink and brushed my teeth, washed my face, and pulled my hair up into a ponytail.

  “So Mr. Nichols is coming over?” Lily asked, surfing the internet on the laptop.

  “Yes, I got a contract for something I need him to look at. And I have to discuss a few things with him.”

  “There it is!” Lily said. “Your Tempest Storm sketch. They posted it as part of the video. That was fast. And look, the scores’ different.”

  Style 8

  Fight Technique 8

  Showmanship 9

  Easy on the Eyes 10

  Likability 10

  I took a look and noticed a 1-point increase in Showmanship and Likability. “You’re right about the caption. It changed the scores,” I said. “In exactly the area you said it would…Showmanship and Likability.” I gave Lily a fist bump. “That’s my sis!”

  “You’re not the only smart one in the family,” she laughed.

  “Are you sure you’re only 11 years-old?” I joked.

  “I’m actually a 1000 year-old alien who has the technology humankind needs to survive the Apocalypse,” she said.

  “You’ve been watching way too much Ancient Aliens television and conspiracy theory stuff,” I said.

  “I’ve got plenty of time on my hands,” Lily said. “Dangerous thing for a kid to have is plenty of time and nothing to do.”